NEMA STRENGTHENS PARTNERSHIP WITH NACA ON DISASTER AND PUBLIC HEALTH MANAGEMENT
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening institutional collaboration with the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) towards enhancing Nigeria’s capacity for coordinated disaster response and public health management.
This renewed partnership aims to integrate health-related interventions within disaster management frameworks, ensuring more effective prevention, preparedness, and humanitarian support to vulnerable populations across the country.
The assurance was given by the Director General of NEMA, Mrs. Zubaida Umar, when she received the Director General of NACA, Dr. Temitope Ilori, and members of her management team on a courtesy visit to NEMA Headquarters in Abuja.
The visit provided both agencies—established around the same period and each tasked with coordinating vital national responses—an opportunity to explore areas of synergy between disaster management and HIV/AIDS control, particularly in prevention, community engagement, and humanitarian support.
In her remarks, Mrs. Zubaida Umar commended the NACA team for their commitment to addressing HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, describing the visit as both timely and strategic. She noted that NEMA and NACA share similar coordination mandates, emphasizing that collaboration between the two agencies could help strengthen resilience, enhance awareness, and improve community-level interventions.
“We are both coordinating agencies. NACA focuses on HIV/AIDS, while NEMA coordinates disaster management. The link between health crises and disaster management is undeniable, and this partnership will help us respond better to vulnerable populations,” she stated.
The DG highlighted the need for joint efforts in prevention and data sharing, particularly in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps and other humanitarian settings where public health challenges are often heightened.
“I find your focus on prevention quite important. Investing in prevention saves lives and reduces the long-term cost of disaster response. It also aligns with this year’s International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction theme, which emphasizes the importance of investing in prevention rather than reaction,” she said.
Mrs. Zubaida Umar also expressed interest in integrating HIV prevention materials into NEMA’s humanitarian kits and awareness campaigns, noting that many long-term IDP camps could benefit from improved access to preventive resources and awareness programmes without stigma.
She further welcomed NACA’s proposal for joint training and capacity-building for staff and emergency responders, stressing that such training would enhance sensitivity and competence when dealing with persons living with HIV during emergencies. “We have offices across the country and are open to hosting joint training programmes that will help build capacity and strengthen our humanitarian response,” she added.
Earlier, the Director General of NACA, Dr. Temitope Ilori, commended NEMA for its leadership in coordinating national emergency management efforts. She explained that the purpose of the visit was to seek stronger collaboration with NEMA in integrating HIV/AIDS considerations into disaster management frameworks.
Dr. Ilori noted that an estimated two million Nigerians are currently living with HIV, and partnerships with agencies like NEMA would help ensure that vulnerable populations, including those in disaster-prone areas and displacement camps, are not left behind. She also emphasized the importance of community outreach, preventive health education, and data-driven planning to reduce transmission and support affected persons.
The NACA DG expressed readiness to work closely with NEMA in areas such as awareness creation, distribution of preventive materials, and integration of health protection strategies into emergency response operations.
Directors from both agencies who spoke during the meeting commended the initiative and stressed the need for more structured inter-agency cooperation, training exchanges, and harmonized community-level interventions.
The visit concluded with an exchange of souvenirs and group photographs, symbolizing the beginning of a renewed partnership between the two national coordinating bodies.
